Did you ever really hate me?
by freetodream4now
Summary: A Tratie one-shot: before they are together, when feelings teeter on the edge, when each is sure but unsure, when there is only one moment to take it or leave it —


****Author's Note****

 **Hey everyone! So this is my first attempt at writing fanfic - and actually my first attempt at writing fiction for an audience in general -and I really didn't know where it was going... Ah well. Sometimes, you have to let the characters speak for you, so I guess Travis and Katie wanted to write their own story. I hope you like it. (well, actually, thank you to anyone who reads it!) Let me know what you think in the reviews, _please_ give me helpful criticism so I can keep writing, and cheers to all y'all ! And of course to you Percy Jackson & Heroes fans like me :)**

 **Travis**

Travis was waiting behind a bush, holding a thick twined rope taut. Conner was up in the tree, grinning down at his brother, the mischievous twinkle mirrored in both brothers' eyes. Then he twisted in the tree, and gave the ' _stand by'_ signal to everyone else waiting in the trees, behind stumps — the whole Hermes, Nike, and Hephaestus cabins behind him, waiting to ambush the Ares, Aphrodite, and Demeter cabins in the all-out prank war they'd been planning. Travis was _hoping_ to catch Clarisse… man, that would be epic!

Then Conner caught Travis's eye and nodded urgently. _Excellent,_ Travis thought gleefully, _it must be Clarisse! That was the signal_...He released the rope. Too late to see the sudden horror in Conner's eyes as he made the "abort mission" signal. Travis stood up triumphantly… only to see the tomatoes launched from the catapult as they smacked Katie Gardener full in the face.

Time was frozen for a second. Travis stared, disbelieving; Katie stared back, her face unreadable and dripping red slush. Then Conner whispered, " _oops._ "

Before Travis could react, Katie shrieked, " _Charge_!"

With an insane yell, the apparently prepared and armed demigods of Ares, Aphrodite, and Demeter came charging forward to meet the onslaught of demigods of the other cabins — the weapons being marshmallow syrup, pies, yarn, silly string, and every other prank item existing in the known world.

In the midst of the chaos, Katie marched up to Travis, and he panicked, seeing the terrifying gleam in her glittering emerald eyes. But she grabbed his shirt front and knotted her hand in his shirt, then suddenly began to push him back. He was stumbling backwards, tripping over his feet, stammering, "Hey Katie — I, it was just a prank! Come on, please — !"

She shoved him hard into a tree, and her snapping green eyes bore into his. "I hate you Stoll," she hissed.

Travis attempted some of his signature flirtatious manner, though his head hurt from its recent encounter with the tree. "I know you do, darling. But who's the one who couldn't take a prank?"

"Bighead," she muttered, her red hair sweeping forward as she glared daggers at him. _Dang, she's cute when she's mad_ , Travis involuntarily thought, observing the crinkling of her nose and the way her eyebrows bunched together. Then she suddenly grinned evilly. "But who says I can't prank, hmm?" And she brought her face _wayyy_ close to his… and he could count every freckle…

"Ummm…" he found himself unable to think of any comeback, a real crisis for a Stoll brother… her eyes were really pretty… he couldn't keep looking; he had to close his eyes and —

He heard her laugh before he felt his feet suddenly yanked off the earth. His eyes flew wide open as a rope jerked him ankle-first into the tree and hung suspended upside down from a sturdy oak. And it hit him — he knew this pranking spot! Ugh! Katie was laughing so hard and gasping, "I can't _believe_ you fell for _that_! Gods, you are so gullible, Stoll!" He could only scowl, as she turned to depart, snickering, "Well sorry I can't _hang around_ with you, but I got a prank war to attend."

Then, Katie screamed. "How in the name of _HADES—!"_ And Travis's eyes widened in horror. Being upside down didn't make a hellhound any less scary. And that's exactly what was standing and growling in the middle of the field of Camp Half Blood, drool dripping from its wicked teeth and its razor sharp claws hungrily pawing the ground, ripping the earth.

The demigods involved in the prank war were all noticing it, and many reactions were similar to Katie's. Weapons were being drawn from belts; but the only real weapons were daggers and bows-and-arrows. Katie cursed silently, then she whipped out her dagger and severed the rope that held Travis dangling. He fell with a sickening thud, but quickly bounded up to his feet. "I thought we were done with monster attacks! I've honestly had enough to last me a lifetime after _both_ wars…" Travis groaned, mostly to himself, fumbling to pull out his sword that he often carried around.

Katie glanced sideways at him, taking her eyes off the snarling hellhound for a moment. "You're a demigod. We are monster magnets, genius."

Travis, who was motioning Conner over, laughed ruefully. "Oh, yep. Honestly, it's a wonder I'm still alive."

Katie shook her head in amusement. Then she added, in a more thoughtful tone, "I'd prefer you stay that way." When Travis blinked, she added in a sarcastic tone, "So that I can kill you myself." Then her face suddenly transformed into battle mode, an expression that always filled him with equal amounts of admiration and apprehension. "Quick," Katie barked to him, "Arrange your demigods into battle formation! Phase defense!"

Travis turned face the hellhound, pale but determined, and swallowed his fear. Dang, that oversized dog gave him the creeps. "Hephaestus! Weapon supply!" he shouted to his comrades. "Nike! Offense with the Ares group! Hermes, cover them." Then he lowered his voice and addressed Conner, who had appeared by his side with a serious expression for once. "Come on man," Travis muttered, "Let's give 'em double trouble."

Conner flashed a grin. "You bet, bro." He high-fived Travis, glanced at him a final moment, as if about to say something, then grinned and slipped off to the along the side of the field. Travis advanced forward through the ranks attempting to subdue the giant dog that was already wreaking havoc among the campers.

When he was as close to the hellhound as he could safely get, Travis yelled out, "Oy, you big brute! Over here! Did the doggy get lost? Well, I'll show you the way back to the fiendish place you came from, you Underworld mongrel!"

The dog growled menacingly, and Travis prayed that Conner was almost there, but he couldn't look lest he give away his position… just a little longer…

Simultaneously, Conner yelled and leapt onto the hellhound's back from behind, just as he heard Clarisse yell out, "Stoll! Behind you!" He whirled and ducked, just in time to avoid getting ripped to shreds by yet another giant black paw. _Great. Just great_.

This second hellhound was even bigger than the first, and it wasn't here to play fetch. Travis ducked and tried to stab at its legs, dancing around its stomping and clawing paws. Sweat was pouring down him, making his sword handle slip and slide under his clenched fingers, but he was determined to bring it down. He was joined by two fierce fighters from the Demeter and Nike cabin, but none could deliver a significant blow.

Finally, Travis struck out furiously and managed to drive his sword deep into the front paw of the hellhound — and instantly, a terrible and earsplitting howl of pain rent the air, and the hellhound jerked the sword from Travis's grip as it flailed its wounded paw. While his ears were still ringing, the dog's paw suddenly shot out and delivered a strong backhand to Travis and Ares camper and sent them tumbling backwards down the hill — but it was just the Demeter camper now, left to face the vicious dog alone — Travis was struggling to stand, but he was still uselessly gasping for breath, and he was helpless, _helpless,_ as he watched the boy from Demeter cruelly struck by the deadly claws of the hellhound and fall lifelessly to the ground.

Rage bubbled up in Travis, but suddenly a flash of fiery red tore past him with a furious scream. " _THAT'S MY BROTHER YOU FOUL LOATHSOME_ —" _Katie!_

 _No, no, no,_ Travis thought in a frenzy of panic as she raced up the hill towards the hellhound. He followed close behind to cover her, but she was a blur. Slashing, slicing, dogging and stabbing, her red hair dancing behind her; Travis hardly did anything; he couldn't even get close to her, lest she accidentally slice him to ribbons. Finally, with a murderous look on her face that spoke of utter hatred, bitterness, and pain, she plunged her dagger upward — and the hellhound exploded in a cloud of monster dust that settled on Katie, Travis, and the fallen camper.

Travis stared at Katie, shaken for a moment, panting heavily. She gazed wordlessly, expressionlessly back at him, then she fell to her knees beside her brother from the Demeter cabin and put her head in her hands, her body quivering from fatigue and sorrow. Travis was silent, feeling the loss in his chest, the sorrow of an unnecessary, unexpected death, was going to walk over to comfort her...

That was when the shadow fell over them. The paw that came from nowhere, that blocked out the sun. In that flashing instant, Travis remembered Conner, and simultaneously, he glimpsed his brother laying clutching his leg on the ground at the foot of the hill, gasping in agony; and he saw the terrifying clarity of the great, black dog with the massive, gleaming claws that had come up behind them, that were coming down, down, down _on Katie_ —

He couldn't yell a warning. His body moved without his thinking, he just acted as he flung himself in front of the deadly white blades that tore through his chest, the white hot pain that flashed through every cell in his body, the screaming that was Katie's or Conner's or his own. He barely saw the mindless way Katie stabbed the other hellhound into oblivion, or Conner trying to stand and stumble to him but collapsing from pain — and a word broke through the haze in his eyes that threatened to overwhelm him and blurred his vision…

" _TRAVIS! No… NO!"_ Her voice was the most beautiful thing, and yet the worst. Broken, laced with the pain that was burning and searing throughout his frayed senses…

"Katie…" He managed to croak. When he coughed, he tasted blood, and every breath felt like he was inhaling a hundred knives that sliced at his chest and throat.

"Travis, you idiot, _you idiot_ , Will! WILL SOLACE! We need a healer, NOW _! IS ANYBODY LISTENING?_ If you leave now, I _swear,_ Stoll" Katie was swimming in and out of vision, and he felt her hot tears dripping on his face… Katie who never cried…

"M'all right, m'okay —" he tried to murmur, but he was interrupted by the coughing that tore his insides up again.

"Shut up Travis, just _shut up_." she was crying freely now, "Don't you dare leave now, don't you _dare!_ SOLACE!" She was fumbling with his shirt, or what remained, using her own vest to staunch the endless flow of red that stained his shirt and her hands, but there was nothing she could do, he knew.

Travis reached up with every bit of strength he could muster, and gently touched her cheek, leaving a smear of his blood, and he tried to grin, "Hey Katie… don't worry about me…"

"Don't you dare Travis," she whispered again, and she had grabbed his hand and was clutching it, pressing it to her own face, gripping with a painful tightness that he relished.

He could feel himself slipping out of consciousness, but he struggled against everything to speak, to tell her before it was too late, "You're… beautiful — you know… I could never say that or you'd kill me… but I guess it doesn't matter now…"

"Don't say that — no—" Katie said, but he could hear the despair in her voice, and he knew that hope was gone, the terrifying reality for any demigod was upon him now… it was his time and she knew it.

"So beautiful…" then he whispered, "Katie… did you ever really hate me?"

And suddenly, she was in clear focus. The tears streaming freely down her face that was streaked with sweat, dirt, blood. And the smell filled his nose, the most beautiful smell. Then she was kissing him, a kiss that tasted of tears and blood, pain mingled with sorrow over the lost years; the years they'd never have. He reached up, defying the screaming pain in his left shoulder, and twined his hand in her fiery red hair. She gripped his face between her hands like she'd never let him go, and she was crying again and whispering against his mouth, "I loved you Travis _oh I love you and it was never hate but love_ " and with every word her lips brushed his and she was kissing him again, desperately and fiercely and brokenheartedly.

"I love you, Katie Gardener," he whispered back, his breath barely coming out, he forced it out; "I always have — every time… always… no matter how much we fought, all the pranks… you don't know how much I was in love with _you… Katie_ …"

"Travis…" she breathed, and she gripped him tightly to herself, so close, as if maybe she could withhold him from the overwhelming blackness that should've taken him already, that was calling... _calling_. He heard his twin brother calling, crying his name, but the sound came from somewhere way down below… her lips were on his again, but the sensation was fading fast… and he was spiraling out

out

And his last thought was _Katie…_

before he surrendered to the

overwhelming

and silent

blackness.


End file.
